Coachbult.com - Ward LaFrance Truck Corp.



Ward Lafrance Truck Corp.- 1918-present - Elmira, New York

Founded by A. Ward LaFrance, a member of the same family who made American LaFrance fire engines, although there was never any business connection between the two concerns, Ward LaFrance was an assembled truck which made an important contribution to the war effort and today specializes in fire engines.

Early Ward LaFrance trucks were offered in a range from 2 ½ to 5/7 tons, and featured Waukesha engines, Brown-Lipe transmissions and Timken axles. They were generally conventional, although employing a self-lubricating system which was complex and bulky. The 1920 2 ½-tonner was specially designed for pneumatic tires, and an engine-driven 2-cylinder Kellogg pump for the tires was standard equipment. The range was widened in 1926 with 6-cylinder engines in some models and more heavy-duty models in the 5- to 7-ton area. Two bus chassis were added in 1929, followed in 1930 by the 'Bustruk'. This was a high-speed chassis adaptable for bus or vantype bodies, powered by a straight-8 Lycoming engine.

Ward LaFrance sales, which rarely exceeded 100 units annually, were confined for the most part to New York State, the City being a major market, The 1930s saw an increasing emphasis on purely custom-built units such as the 4 X 4 crane truck for hauling away illegally parked cars, delivered to New York City in 1934. As a small assembler Ward LaFrance adopted diesel power early, with a Cummins-engined 6-wheeler catalogued in 1934. From this date onwards diesels became an increasingly important part of the Ward LaFrance range. Big and handsome tractors for gross loads of up to 20 tons were made in the 1930s, together with a heavy-duty cab-over-engine 6-wheeler from 1935. One of the more unusual options at this time was a fabricated chassis frame in steel or Duralumin to customer's choice. This was a deep 14 inches just behind the cab. Costly to make, it was dropped on later models for a more conventional heat-treated channel frame.

During World War II Ward LaFrance made large numbers of heavy-duty wreckers. Designated M1, and later M1A1, these 6 X 6 10-ton trucks with Continental 6cylinder engines were also made by Kenworth. In addition to the wreckers, Ward LaFrance made a number of 6 X 4 and 6 X 6 load-carrying army trucks. Wartime production necessitated substantial additions to the small Elmira plant, and to capitalize on this Ward LaFrance introduced a new range of trucks in 1945, the D Series. These were offered in sizes from 40,000 to 60,0001bs GCW, and used Continental Gasoline or Cummins Diesel Engines. Styling was functional with military overtones, the fenders having flat tops in the style of quarry trucks. Attempts were made at large-scale marketing, including in Canada, and for a time sales were well up on pre-war (509 in 1947 and 271 in 1948), but production fell off severely once the postwar boom was over. By the mid-1950s ordinary load-carrying trucks had been given up in favor of fire engines, bodies, shipping containers and trailers. In 1945 Ward LaFrance attempted to market buses in knocked-down form for export and used the sectional body construction pioneered by C.J. Hug and used during the war by Wayne Works. If the post-war plans had succeeded, Buda diesel engines would have been used and Hug is said to have been engaged as the chassis engineer. Westinghouse became interested and proposed a trolleybus version called the Westram, some of which were actually produced and sold in Argentina and Mexico. There is no record of any Ward LaFrance bus being sold in the U.S.

Ward LaFrance built their first fire engine in 1931, and these vehicles became of increasing importance in the firm's activities. Conventional open-cab ladder trucks were made until 1960, joined in 1959 by the modern type of forward-cab appliance which has been made in 4- and 6-wheeler models with a great variety of pumper and aerial platform bodies. Engines used include Waukesha, Roiline, Hall-Scott, International and Ford and the fire engines have 5- or 6-speed transmissions and air brakes. Fire equipment is also built on other chassis such as Ford, International and Chevrolet, while the most powerful Ward LaFrance is a twin-V8-engined 4 X 4 airfield crash tender with a total power of 532hp and a maximum speed of 60mph. In 1971 Ward LaFrance pioneered a move a way from red as the traditional fire engine color; experiments by an optometrist indicated that lime yellow was more clearly visible by both day and night, and by 1975 the company had received orders for lime yellow engines from more than 140 fire departments all over the United States and in El Salvador, Saudi Arabia, Colombia and Venezuela. Ward LaFrance also supplies the US Army with the HET tractor, an 8 X 8 heavy duty transporter powered by a 600hp diesel engine.

For more information please read:

John J. Burzichelli & Richard J. Gergel - Ward LaFrance Fire Trucks 1916-1978 Photo Archive

Walter M.P. McCall & George H. Dammann - American Fire Engines Since 1900

Fred W. Crismon - Fire Engines

Bob Dubbert - Encyclopedia of Canadian Fire Apparatus

Donal M. Baird - A Canadian History of Fire Engines

Phil DaCosta - One Hundred Years of America's Fire Fighting Apparatus

Bill Hass - History of the American Water Towers

Hans Halberstadt - The American Fire Engine

Hans Halberstadt - Fire Engines

T.A. Jacobs - A History of Fire Engines

Matthew Lee - A Pictorial History of the Fire Engine